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Octavia Spencer on LeBron Helping Her Get Equal Pay: 'He Never Has Any Problem With an Assist'

ByAlex Galbraith

Jan 30, 2019

Image via Getty/Matt Winkelmeyer

LeBron James hasn't been in Hollywood too long, but he's already negotiating deals. Oscar-winning actress Octavia Spencer revealed that James helped her receive fair pay in her upcoming biographical series on Madam C.J. Walker.

Spencer told a Sundance crowd that James had to speak out on her behalf to receive equal pay to her male co-stars. The series follows the life of beauty product entrepreneur Walker and is executive produced by James and Spencer, who also stars. In spite of all this, Spencer still had to fight for appropriate pay.

"I have to say, when I was negotiating my deal for ‘Madam C.J.,’ LeBron James had to intervene," she told the Park City crowd, per TMZ. "We need all our male counterparts to be in the fight with us.”

It's not the first time that Spencer has needed an ally in the fight for equal pay. Jessica Chastain worked with her to get equal pay on a project that the pair were working on. Spencer previously shared that story at a panel at last year's Sundance.

“I think my goal is to make sure that all women of color get equal pay, and all women get equal pay," Spencer said. "The only way to do it is to have these conversations, to talk numbers with your co-stars. Jessica and I stood together, and that was interesting that she would take that position ... but we also need advocates and allies in negotiating.”

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It's also not the first time that LeBron James has spoken on the issue of women's equality. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, James used the example of Serena Williams to explain the way that women of color have to fight to be seen as equals.

"What we all have to understand is what she is fighting for is bigger than just that match," he said. "She is fighting for equality—always having to win more, more, more, just to feel equal. Being an African American woman playing in a predominantly white sport, she's dealing with so much more. I have no idea what was going on in her head, but I feel that struggle."